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Tracfone Newbie- looking for help

Hi,
First thank you all in advance for all the great knowledge found on this site.

I need to get a phone for my dad (he will be using very limited calls/texts and checking/sending email 2x a day otherwise the phone will be turned off) and I think I narrowed it down to the moto e4 and the $125/365 days airtime card.

A couple of questions:

1- Is it really that easy to unlock and activate the verizon moto e4 using the ebay code or should I not risk it and just buy an unlocked one from the outset?

2- Is there a place to apply the promo codes without having to give a credit card to the company?

3- If I run out of data I can just buy a data only card and add it at anytime?

Hi,
First thank you all in advance for all the great knowledge found on this site.

I need to get a phone for my dad (he will be using very limited calls/texts and checking/sending email 2x a day otherwise the phone will be turned off) and I think I narrowed it down to the moto e4 and the $125/365 days airtime card.

A couple of questions:

1- Is it really that easy to unlock and activate the verizon moto e4 using the ebay code or should I not risk it and just buy an unlocked one from the outset?

Yes, the unlock on eBay is ~$2. After applying the unlock, the phone can be used on a GSM carrier, not Verizon.

2- Is there a place to apply the promo codes without having to give a credit card to the company?

The only place to use TF promo codes is with purchases on the TF web site. A credit card is required for that.

3- If I run out of data I can just buy a data only card and add it at anytime?

Yes, it is as simple as that. There is also a text only card. Neither add service days.

Any other tips?

Consider a HSN or QVC bundle. Typically you can get a fair phone, one year service, and 1500/1500/1500 talk min/texts/data MB for ~$99

If TF/Verizon service is availabe where "Dad" lives, the OP can buy the Rebel 3 bundle for $59.95 on HSN to start with. If Dad is happy with the phone, great. If not, OP can buy the Moto E4, get it unlocked, get a BYOP SIM Kit, then transfer everything from the Rebel 3 to the BYOP SIM. The cost of the bundle is $65 less than the $125 1-yr card that the OP was planning to buy, even if Dad doesn't like the Rebel 3.

Is it really that easy to unlock and activate the verizon moto e4 using the ebay code or should I not risk it and just buy an unlocked one from the outset?

First determine which carrier will work in the location the phone will be use in. Like was stated, the Verizon E4 can't be activated on TF Verizon, but can on TF AT&T or T-Mobile. The unlock code will only allow you to swap in an already activated TF/Verizon SIM card.

The HSN bundles are a very good deal, with some models being about equivelent to the Moto E4 in specs. Much cheaper than a fully unlocked E4.

Unfortunately, unlock codes for the Moto E4 have gone up significantly and are no longer available for ~2. One popular seller is selling them for $5 and another has raised the price to $20. They're also taking significantly longer to be sent - as much as a week.

Unfortunately, unlock codes for the Moto E4 have gone up significantly and are no longer available for ~2. One popular seller is selling them for $5 and another has raised the price to $20. They're also taking significantly longer to be sent - as much as a week.

Delays and price increases might be because of the worst winter in Russia for a 100 years. You know the talented hackers there are providing the unlock codes! Servers down? Yea, they had to use the Russian army to dig out Moscow.

First determine which carrier will work in the location the phone will be use in. Like was stated, the Verizon E4 can't be activated on TF Verizon, but can on TF AT&T or T-Mobile. The unlock code will only allow you to swap in an already activated TF/Verizon SIM card.

The HSN bundles are a very good deal, with some models being about equivelent to the Moto E4 in specs. Much cheaper than a fully unlocked E4.

My dad lives in a major city so he has good service with all the carriers.

Which HSN model specifically is as good as the Moto E4? Sorry for the dumb question but I am an iPhone user so unfamiliar with these phones. Thank you.

Which HSN model specifically is as good as the Moto E4? Sorry for the dumb question but I am an iPhone user so unfamiliar with these phones.

The LG Rebel 3 in the bundle that I mentioned in post #5 above is not too shabby. It has Android 7.x (Nougat) and 16BG of internal memory like the Moto E4. It has less RAM (1GB vs 2GB), slower processor, lower-res screen. But it's not a bad "starter" phone and certainly can handle calls, text, email. The best thing is that it's "cheaper than free" because the bundle comes with 1-yr of service and 1500 in each bucket and costs only $60, which is $65 cheaper than the $125 1-yr card that you were planning to buy. Even if your Dad doesn't like it and just throws it away, you still come out ahead.

The Rebel 3 has a Verizon SIM. It is almost certainly Nano sized, the same size as used by the Moto E4. You could move the SIM to an E4 if you wanted to chance using Verizon service with the E4 or transfer service to a Tracfone BYOP AT&T SIM for the E4..

If you moved the Rebel 3 SIM you must not allow anyone to re-activate the Rebel 3. One active SIM per Tracfone (S/N-IMEI), the first SIM would be de-activated, losing the airtime and phone number.

Prices on the Verizon Moto E4 seem to have gone up to $70 via Walmart raising their price. The unlocked E4 which sells for $129 is certified for T-Mobile(VOLTE) and works on Sprint out-of-the-box as well as AT&T and Verizon.